Argella Baratheon
Lady Argella Baratheon, née Durrandon, was the daughter of Argilac the Arrogant, the last of the Storm Kings, and wife of Orys Baratheon, the founder of House Baratheon."House Durrandon, the Storm Kings" Because of her short-lived regency of Storm's End after her father's death, she was considered as the Storm Queen and the last monarch of the Stormlands though she is rarely referred to as such. Biography Argella grew up as the only child of Argilac, the last Durrandon king of the Stormlands. Despite House Durrandon's previous hegemony, they had entered a grave decline, mostly due to the loss of their hold of the Riverlands to their enemies of House Hoare. Anticipating the ambitious and cruel Hoare king Harren the Black would seize the Stormlands once he had finished his castle of Harrenhal, Argella's father sought the aid of the Valyrian Lord of Dragonstone Aegon Targaryen and his dragons. In return for assistance, Argilac arrogantly offered Aegon lands that lay outside of his kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage. This scheme would backfire, however. Being already married to his sisters, Aegon sent an envoy asking that Argella instead be wed to his best friend Orys Baratheon. But because Orys was rumored to be Lord Targaryen's bastard half-brother, Princess Durrandon's father felt insulted, rejected the offer and disrespectfully cut off the messenger's hands and returned them to Dragonstone in a box with a note that read: "These are the only hands your bastard shall have of me". This gesture would be the excuse for the Targaryen conquest of Westeros. Once Aegon had sent letters demanding the submission of the Seven Kingdoms and landed on the continent, Argella's father refused to yield. Having heard of the fall of Harrenhal, King Argilac wished to spare his castle a similar end and decided to face the Targaryen invaders on a battlefield, leaving to meet Aegon's host with his own soldiers and giving his daughter charge of Storm's End. Despite his bravery the last Storm King was defeated by Aegon's Queen Rhaenys and Hand of the King Orys in the Battle of the Last Storm and was personally slain by Orys after a fierce duel. As soon as news of her father's demise reached her, Argella ordered the gates of Storm's End closed and declared herself "Storm Queen" as Argilac's only heir. When the Baratheon general arrived at the castle, she refused to surrender much like Argilac and arrogantly told him that even if her stronghold fell, she and her remaining men would fight to the death. However, her frightened garrison refused to end up like Harren the Black and his family, revolted and that same night delivered their Queen to Orys' tent gagged, chained and naked. Instead of mistreating her, the Targaryen general unchained Argella, clothed her with his own cloak and served her a glass of wine; he then informed the girl of her father's valiant end and that in his homage he would take the sigil and words of the Durrandons for his own new House. Being informed of the seizure of Storm's End, King Aegon told his Hand to deliver to him the swords of the people slain in the Last Storm (to be reforged later into the Iron Throne) and rewarded him by naming Orys Baratheon Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, with the region losing its title of "kingdom" and some of its northernmost lands that were transferred into the new Crownlands. To cement his rule, Lord Baratheon took Argella as his wife. This marked the end of House Durrandon and its absorption into House Baratheon. Although she became Lady Baratheon instead of Princess or Queen Durrandon, Argella remained in her home. As the wife of Orys, she likewise became the mother of his children: Mychal, Theresa, Ethelide and Raymont. After she and her husband had eventually perished, their children carried on the Baratheon/Durrandon bloodline and rule of Storm's End and the Stormlands. Season 1 She is mentioned in Orys Baratheon's entry in The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms."A Golden Crown" Personality Truly Argilac's flesh and blood, Argella Baratheon inherited his eponymous arrogance and his refusal to yield to enemies, even when the Durrandon army had been scattered and she held no hope of victory, instead wishing to die in her home fighting. Even when handed over to Orys, the "Storm Queen" maintained a defying attitude that only seemed to soften (though not disappear) when her father's killer treated her gently. At the same time, her stubborn attitude had visibly earned his respect. It is unknown whether she and Orys enjoyed a happy marriage and whether she forgave the man who had slain her father and taken her home. Considering her husband's chivalrous interactions with her, they may in fact have ended up having developed a friendly (and perhaps loving) relationship. Behind the scenes thumb|left|The lineage of Orys Baratheon, mentioning Argella (misspelled as "Argalia") When her name first appeared in the lineages book in Season 1, it was spelled as "Argalia" - the name of Argilac Durrandon's daughter, who married Orys Baratheon hadn't been publicly revealed at the time - but later, in the 2014 sourcebook The World of Ice and Fire, the officially spelling was given as "Argella" Durrandon. The "Argella" spelling was finally confirmed as official in the TV continuity as well, when the Season 7 Histories & Lore set prominently listed it the on-screen credits. Family tree In the books In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Argella is briefly mentioned in the appendixes of A Game of Thrones and A Dance with Dragons as Argilac's daughter (without specifying her first name), whom Aegon the Conquerer rewarded Orys as a bride; no further information is given about her. Her biography is narrated in The World of Ice and Fire and "Fire & Blood". See also * References fr:Argella Baratheon de:Argella Baratheon ru:Аргалия Баратеон #Diego Cobo Sánchez (talk) 17:00, December 7, 2018 (UTC) Category:Members of House Baratheon Category:House Durrandon Category:Stormlanders Category:Deceased individuals Category:Storm Kings